BrewDog reveals its ‘next steps’ after ‘painful’ accusations about firm’s culture

BrewDog reveals its “next steps” in response to accusations of a “toxic” workplace from former members of staff, as signatories of an open letter outlining a “culture of fear” continue to surge in numbers.

BrewDog posted a statement to its Instagram page yesterday, in which it outlined how it plans to address the numerous allegations levelled at its workplace practices from ex-staffers.

“We can’t possibly have all the answers at the moment, but we are throwing our heart and soul into building a better business,” part of the post reads.

The statement then goes on to pledge several initiatives designed to improve its workplace culture, including: conducting an anonymous staff survey, appointing an independent agency to undertake a review of its culture and “people practices”, a review of the company’s structure to address areas where it might be “too lean”, exit interviews for departing members of staff, the introduction of an employee representative group, and a focus on career development and training.

 

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The open letter that has proved a catalyst for considerable media coverage of alleged workplace issues at BrewDog said the firm had “toxic attitudes towards junior staff”, adding, “Being treated like a human being was sadly not always a given for those working at BrewDog.”

According to The Times, the number of signatories of the letter has surged from an initial 60 to more than 300 since it was shared last week.

The Punks with Purpose group, who wrote the open letter, issued the following response to BrewDog’s statement:

“While we hope this statement can bring some measure of closure to former staff, we have seen hollow apologies in the past. We are not going away.”

You can read our initial report on co-founder and CEO James Watt’s response to the open letter here.